The Indiana Department of Health is keeping an eye out for the new, more contagious strain of COVID-19. During state officials’ press conference Tuesday, State Health Commissioner Dr. Kris Box said her department “is appropriately respectful” of the fact that the strain exists and appears to be more infectious.
“To date, we do not think it is a more lethal strain, as far as severity of illness and increased deaths, but certainly much more transmissible,” Box said. “People get infected more easily. We do have the ability here in the state and our lab is testing to see if we see strains of this particular virus here in the State of Indiana, and we can test for a particular protein associated with that.”
Box said that at this point, it doesn’t appear that the mutation will affect the efficacy of the vaccines, but “only time will tell” for sure. In the meantime, she said residents should continue to follow the same precautions that health officials have been urging for months: wear a mask, practice social distancing, wash your hands, stay home if you’re sick, and get tested.
“We just have so much hope right now with the vaccine, and I’m just afraid people are going to get vaccinated and take off their masks or just assume, ‘Hey, we’re just a month or two out from this,’ and this is going to take awhile for us to get everybody vaccinated and for us to really see a change,” Box added.
